Science and Engineering Day Event

The three areas we'll be looking into include eye-tracking, nostalgia and an exploration of the brain with a fascinating demonstration of the 'rubber hand' illusion. There's no need to book these events, simply come along and join us on the day. See below for more details of each activity.

Where do we look when we search for things?
Eye-tracking research allows us to understand why people are less accurate when they are looking for two things at the same time than when they are looking for those same two things separately. By tracking eye-movements, we can see that search is guided to the ‘wrong' objects when looking for two things at the same time.

Walk Down Nostalgic Memory Lane
Feel the warm glow of your memory! Explore toys and music from different eras to let you grown up kids share the golden oldies of your youth with the whole family. Take a trip down memory lane altogether in our Secret Nostalgia Den and experience the power of nostalgia with your own fond memories.  Take a photo to capture your new memories of the day and bring it home with you!

A journey through your beautiful brain
Take a look down the microscope at the exquisite organisation of the miniscule cells that make up the brain; Make your own model brain cell; Find out more about how your nervous system works and let your brain play some tricks on you. Learn how magnets can be used to take pictures of your brain and discover what fashion has to do with mental health. This exhibit will take you on a journey from a single brain cell through to how your brain works and the importance of a healthy brain. Neuroscientists and psychology students will be on hand to talk about the different diseases that affect the brain and the research that is being carried out at Southampton to help improve treatments.

We will be preforming the rubber hand illusion to illustrate how a persons sense of self is brain based phenomenon. The task is very simple, participants sit down in front of a rubber hand whilst placing their 'real hand' behind a curtain to block it from view. The rubber hand and the real hand are both stroked (using a paint brush) simultaneously. If everything works according to plan this should lead to the individuals 'body integrity' to be transferred from their hand to the fake rubber hand. To illustrate this we will also strike the rubber hand with a hammer. Other colleagues are going to be setting up some visual illusions to discuss what they tell us about how the brain processes visual images.

We are hoping that the optical illusions and the rubber hand experiment will target mainly teenagers and adults and convince them that despite how amazing our brain is, it can be tricked sometimes. By realizing what happens when your brain get things wrong, people should start thinking about the amazing amount of work that our brain is performing right at any given second!

For a full run down of all the activities taking place on the 22nd visit the main Festival page to take part in our competition. We look forward to seeing you there.